Railway-spike.



J. GOIOH.

RAILWAY SPIKE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 2, 191a.

Patented July 28, 1914 mvmrok Jo/m 60/0/2- WI TNESSES Afro/Mr REM.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN Goren, on KANSAS .CITY, KANSAS.

RAILWAY-SPIKE.

, of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to railway spikes, and has for its principal objectto provide a spike whichmay be driven into an ordinary wood tie. for theusual purpose, and automatically clenched in the tie during thedrivingaction. In accomplishing this object I provide the body of thespike with lips and with an auxiliary member which is adapted forengagement by the base of the rail to lift or spread the lips andproject same into the tie, so that they may'serve as anchors to hold thespike and prevent same from being loosened by the jar incidental to thetravel of trains :over the track upon which the spike isused. a I

In the accompanying drawings, I have illustrated a preferred form ofconstruction embodying my invention, and will refer to same by referencenumerals in the follow,- ing specification.

In the drawings"! Figure I is a crosssection of a railway rail, andlongitudinal section of a portion of a supporting tie showing a spikeconstructed according to my injvention; the full lines illustrating thespike before it is completely seated and the dotted lines its finalposition. Fig. "IIis .a section on the line IIII, Fig. I, showing thespike in final position with the anchoring lips spread from thcbodyofthe spike; Fig. III is an enlarged perspective viewof' the spike. Fig.IV is a similar view showing the position of the parts when thespikeisin place. Fig. V is a sectional iew of the body of the spike. showingthe socket for containing the spreading member. Fig. VI is a detailperspective of the spreading member.

Referreing more in detail to the drawings: 1 designates the body of thespike which is preferably of the ordinary shape, but is provided with agroove 2 in its inner face Specification of Letters I atent.

socket 3 within the head 1- of the body meniber. At its lower end thegroove 2 diverges intoa socket 5, which is preferably diamondshaped, forthe purpose presently set forth,

the divergence of the groove being such that its sides cut through thesides of the body of the spike and form lips 6 at opposite sides of thegroove. The lips 6 are slotted upwardly from the side openings at'thelower endof the groove, so that the lips are free from the body and maybe spread there- Patented July28, 1914.

Application filed August 2 1913. I Serial no; 782,589. I I I whichdiverges at the upper end into a i from," under the conditions presentlyset forth. The spike also comprises an auxiliary, or spreading member 8havmg a shank 9 adapted to fit snugly and travel freely within thegroove 2. and having a shoe 10 at its lower end fitting within thesocket 5 at the base of said groove, the upper and outer faces of saidshoe, and the lower and inner faces ofthe' lips 6 being curved, so thatwhen the spreader is drawn upwardly, thetravel of the shoe over the lipswilltend tomove the latter outwardly.- The shank 9 has ahead 11 locatedwithinthe lower portion of the socket 3, but spaced downwardly from thelower edge of the main head 4, I

so that the head ofthe spreader first contacts the baseof a rail whenthe spikeis driven,'y,and retreats upwardly into the socket 3 under thedriving action. I In order to insure the engagement of the edge of arailbase with the angle' o-f the spreader head, I construct the shank 9so that it diverges toward the under face of the head from a pointslightly below the said face, and preferably curve the diverge ing part,so that it will slide freely over the edge of the rail base,therebyinsuring contact at the proper point of the head in case jv thespike should be spaced slightly from.

the rail.v

In using the oevlce, presuming the parts to be constructed as described,when a spike is driven fully against the base of the rail.v

When a spike has been driven into a tie until the head of the spreaderis adjacent the base of the rail, the edge of the base 7 3 is tobedriven, aspreader is placed within the groove 2 with its shoe in thediamond-l contacts the diverging upper portion of the spreader shank, sothat continued driving forces the main spike outwardly into the wood toinsure a firm seating thereof, and also insures a firm and close contactof the under face of the spreader head with the base of the rail.Further driving of the spike causes the head of the spreader to contactthe rail base and as the spike is forced downwardly the spreader isforced upwardly, lifting the shank 9 and causing the shoe 10 to wedgeagainst the lips 6 and spread same from the sides of the spike body intothe tie.

It is apparent that the lips when spread as described, and illustratedin the drawings, serve as an anchor to hold the spike against accidentaldisplacement, and that the jarring of the track by passing trains willnot tend to loosen the spike, for the reason that any upward movement ofthe rail base against the head of the spike will tend to pull thespreader upwardly within'the spike groove and still further spread thelips 6, or pull the main spike downwardly against the rail base, becauseof the leverage exerted between the spreader and the lips of the mainspike, so that such jarring action instead of serving to loosen theparts tends to still further tighten the same.

While I have described my invention as applied to railway spikes, andhave illustrated a specific use, it is apparent that the improvement maybe used on docks, bridges, or any place where it is desirable to anchora spike in place.

If it is necessary to remove the spike, an ordinary crowbar may bepressed under the head of the spike and the latter pried up in theordinary manner; the upward movement of the spike through the woodcausing the lips 6 to be folded back to alinement with the sides of thespike, as the latter is pulled from the wood, the folding back of thelips 6 moving the shoe 10 of the shank 9 downwardly into its socket, sothat when the spike is removed the parts are in their originalcondition. The spike may be used repeatedly as the spreading action onthe lips is the same after the lips have been returned to their initialposition.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new therein, anddesire to secure by Letters-Patent, is

1. A spike comprising a body member having a groove therein, and havinga socket at oneend of and communicating with the groove; the sides ofthe spike being slit abovecthe base'of-the groove to form lips, and aspreader located in said groove and having a head initially located insaid socket, whereby the lips are spread outwardly beyond the side facesof the spike body when the spreader is moved longitudinally in itsgroove.

2. A spike comprising a head and a body member integral with said head,and having a laterally opening groove terminating at its lower end andin an enlarged socket; the sides of the spike being slit longitudinallyand transversely adjacent the socket to form loose end lips, a spreaderslidably mounted in the groove, and having a head projecting laterallyfrom the upper end of the spike groove and a shoe initially located inthe socket and adapted for spreading the loose end lips when thespreader is moved upwardly in its groove, whereby the said lips arespread laterally as the spike is driven.

3. A spike comprising a head and a body member, the former having adownwardly opening socket and the latter having a laterally openinggroove communicating with the head socket, and having an enlarged shoesocket at its opposite end; the sides of the spike being slittransversely at the shoe socket and longitudinally thereabove; aspreader slidably mounted in the groove and having a shoe located in theshoe socket, and a head projected transversely from the groove, wherebythe spreader head engages a rail prior to the engagement of the rail bythe spike head, and whereby the said lips are spread laterallysimultaneously with the driving of the spike, substantially as setforth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two'witnesses.

JOHN GOICH.

Witnessesz R. F.'THOMAS, L. E. COATS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

